Men's Under-20 and Under-17 CONCACAF Championships to be Held in Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago

U-20 MNTApr 28, 2008

CHICAGO (April 28, 2008) -- CONCACAF has announced that the Men’s Under-20 and Under-17 Championships will take place in Trinidad & Tobago and Mexico, respectively. Next year will mark the first time since 1996 that both events will take place at a single venue.

The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship will take place in January or February of 2009, and qualify four teams to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt. The U.S. will be looking to qualify for its seventh-consecutive, and 12th overall, FIFA event at the U-20 level.

During 2007 qualifying, the U.S. scored nine goals while giving up just one en route to finishing first in its group, finishing its campaign with a resounding 5-0 win over host Panama and advancing to the 2007 World Cup in Canada.

At the Under-17 level, the U.S. is the only country to have qualified for all 12 FIFA events, dating back to 1985. The CONCACAF Under-17 Championship is slated for April of 2009, and will send four teams to the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria.

The U.S. Under-17 MNT also finished atop their qualifying group in 2007, defeating Trinidad & Tobago, Canada and Costa Rica. The U.S. has won the CONCACAF Final Round Qualifying Tournament a total of six times at the U-17 level, including four out of five attempts since the tournament became a two-group event in 1999.